Trophy time: Lake Zurich edges Barrington
Apparently, holiday tournament trophies weren't made for such rigorous celebrating.
The Lake Zurich boys basketball team didn't hold back in the wake of its biggest win of the season on Friday night.
Moments after the Bears finished off Barrington 55-51 in overtime to claim the Consolation "A" championship of the Jacobs Holiday Classic, they were in their locker room singing and dancing and high-fiving, all while everyone tried to get their hands on the trophy.
"I walked in to talk to the guys, grabbed the trophy and held it up and said, 'Hey, we finally got some hardware,'" Lake Zurich coach Billy Pitcher said. "And the thing just fell apart. The little guy on the top came off.
"The kids had a good laugh about that."
Even defective hardware couldn't dampen the Bears' spirits.
Essentially, they were celebrating what amounts to a fifth-place finish in the tournament, but, to them, it almost felt like a first-place finish, given where their program has come from.
Just two years ago, Lake Zurich managed a mere 3 victories on the entire season. Last year, the Bears won 7 games.
To now be 8-4 and to have surpassed last year's win total already, to have won six of their last seven games and to come away from a tournament with hardware of any kind, the Bears wouldn't have been human if they tried to play this win off as just another.
"We're all having so much fun right now. We were going crazy in the locker room," said Lake Zurich senior forward Mirko Grcic, who finished with 9 points and was named to the all-tournament team. "Last year ... it was just a rough season, losing 10 in a row, losing close games. It was just awful."
One of the worst parts of last season was all the single-digit losses that piled up on the Bears. They lost seven games by a total of 21 points.
Winning a tight game in overtime over a quality team like Barrington helps to erase some of those painful memories.
"Every close game last year we lost," Pitcher said. "We have a lot of guys back from last year who understand why we lost those games and you could start to see a change this past summer. We won a lot of those close games and we've won some close games already this season.
"Our guys just have a feeling this year. They're playing like the teams we would play last year that just knew how to pull it out in the end. Our guys are saying they know how to pull it out now. They have that confidence."
The Bears confidently knocked down 8 of 9 fourth-quarter free throws to force overtime, got a clutch 3-pointer out of senior forward Jeff O'Brien to start overtime with a bang and then hit 8-of-12 free throws in the final minutes to cinch it.
"We're playing more aggressive. Our team chemistry is getting better," said O'Brien, who finished with a team-high 16 points. "Things are looking good for us right now.
"We showed a lot of confidence hitting some free throws down the stretch and we were able to handle the ball. That was key."
Barrington, meanwhile, lost its primary ballhandler in crunch time. Senior point guard Brad Zaumseil fouled out with three minutes remaining.
The all-tournament team honoree finished with 12 points, just behind teammate and game-high scorer Mark Bennett (19 points).
"It was hard to just sit there and watch," Zaumseil said.
Barrington coach Bryan Tucker said that it appeared to be difficult for some of his other players to keep playing. The idea of having to march on without Zaumseil, their leader, was a tough mental blow.
"Our body language changed after that, you could see it," Tucker said. "We tried to call time out and address that. Brad is such a talented player and he can create a lot of offense for himself and his teammates. We tried to (move forward), but it (being without Zaumseil) remained an issue with our guys."
No one else besides Bennett and Zaumseil scored in double-figures for Barrington.
Lake Zurich, meanwhile, also got double-figures out of Ryan Roach (11 points) and Doug Murphy (12 points). Murphy was a monster on the boards as well.
Mundelein 73, St. Charles North 67: Mundelein had just enough cushion.
The Mustangs used a 23-point second quarter to build a 15-point halftime lead and that came in handy as they fended off a pesky St. Charles North team for a victory in the Consolation "B" championship of the Jacobs Holiday Classic.
Mundelein junior guard Robert Knar poured in a game-high 26 points, including 2 three-pointers. The Mustangs also got 21 points out of junior forward Sean O'Brien.
St. Charles North placed three players in double-figures.
Junior guard Quinten Payne and senior center Kyle Nelson finished with 22 and 19 points respectively, while junior forward Kyle Swanson added 13 points.
Patricia Babcock McGraw